Last summer was a complete bust for me when it came to blooms. My tropicals were all healthy looking and grew lots of new foliage, but not one bloom. We were cool and wet here till mid July when it got hot. No rain at all for the rest of the summer and fall. I kept them where they got morning sun when the heat got bad and used hibiscus fert. all summer, watering daily. I am getting some bloom since I brought them indoors in the fall but not lots. Can anyone help me have more success with these beautiful ladies?
better luck this year?
When you brought them in from outside in the fall did you trim them back? I cut mine back when I bring it in down to about 12 inches. I do not water it much during the winter but it still puts out new leaves. Now that it is March I will start watering it regular so those new small leaves will keep growing and be ready for the out side this spring.
Previous years I pruned about like you do. Last fall I didn't as I had more room than usual. And there were actually some buds forming and I just couldn't cut them off. I did do a little pruning about a month ago just to shape them up a bit, nothing drastic.
The weather was so strange last year, I wonder if they got too much rain and chill? Maybe fertilizer got washed out? Maybe I should use a stronger dose? Need to do something different, just don't know what, exactly.
I think the weather could have been a big factor--they bloom best when it's hot & sunny so a summer that had a lot of cool/cloudy weather would not be conducive to blooms.
Guess I'll just have to wait and see what we get this year. A friend had better luck getting blooms than I did and she lives only 9 miles away, so I must be doing something wrong. She rarely prunes her very much. I'm jealous.
You might see how much light hers are getting compared to yours, could be she gave hers more sun during those warmer months. Hibiscus can handle a decent amount of sun in much hotter climates than yours, so they might do better with more than just morning sun.
Actually hers got more shade. I'm a little restricted on where I can put them as we get so much wind here and they keep blowing over even though they are in clay pots. May have to try to arrange a different spot. The leaves were scorching on some so I thought some shade would be good.
Is it possible that the wind is blowing some of the buds off before they have a chance to open or they're getting knocked off when the pots fall over? Hibiscus buds are pretty easy to knock off if you're not careful. As far as the scorch--that probably just means they got a bit sunburned when you moved them outdoors for the warmer months or when your summer finally arrived if it was really cloudy for several months and then got warm & sunny suddenly (you need to adjust plants gradually to higher light levels or else they can sunburn). Mine get a few hours of afternoon sun and I know we get some hotter days than you would see in MN, so they should be able to take some PM sun.
No, the buds never formed. They live close to the house and I looked at them daily. The scorching came when we had several days in the high 90's with no breeze. They'd been out for a couple of months already. Maybe it just wasn't my year. I saw a couple of robins yesterday so Spring can't be far behind. Thanks for your suggestions, ecrane, keep your fingers crossed for me.